The Philadelphia Eagles exited Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay following their crushing 32-9 drubbing at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild card round of the 2023 NFL playoffs.

It was the culmination of a seven week skid that saw the team finish 1-6 over their last 7 regular season games.

“I didn’t do a good enough job and obviously, we lost five of the last six and lost today. It’s almost like you couldn’t get out of the rut,” Sirianni said after the loss.

“We couldn’t get out of the rut we were in and that’s all of us. We’ll have to look at ourselves in the mirror and accept that and find answers and solutions.”

In the wake of this playoff exit, questions about the future of the organization emerged.

Should they fire Nick Sirianni, despite playoff appearances in each of his first 3 seasons as head coach (including a Super Bowl appearance)?

Is the problem Jalen Hurts?

Was it just the coordinators?

Is the roster too old?

Who’s really to blame for the collapse?

Seven months later, Philadelphia appears to have found the answers to those questions.

This offseason, the organization made sweeping changes, both with the roster and coaching staff.

They moved on from offensive coordinator (and Jalen Hurts long-time family friend) Brian Johnson, in favor of Kellen Moore. They also dumped both defensive coordinators, Sean Desai and Matt Patricia, in favor of veteran defensive mind Vic Fangio.

Both hires, reportedly spearheaded by Eagles General Manager and Executive V.P., Howie Roseman.

Roseman diverged from his usual roster-building philosophy by signing former New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley to a three-year, $37.75 million contract and selecting defensive backs Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean with the Eagles’ first and second-round picks in the 2024 NFL Draft.

This also marked the first time since 2002 that Philadelphia drafted defensive backs in consecutive rounds and the first time they selected a cornerback in the first round in as many years.

The team also jettisoned former Pro-Bowl pass rusher (and multi double digit sack guy) LB Haason Reddick and added former New York Jets pass rusher Bryce Huff on a 3-year, $51.1 million contract.

Philadelphia also lost two of its franchise icons with the retirements of Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox.

The 2024 Eagles campaign officially kicks off on Friday night in Sau Paulo, Brazil against the Green Bay Packers and it will be the beginning of a season that will be marked by the most variance in quite some time.

If you look at the betting landscape, the 2024 Eagles have essentially the same odds of getting to the Super Bowl (+550) as they do of possibly winning seven or fewer games (+540).

Essentially, the 2024 Eagles could be really good, or they could also be really bad.

They’ve made sweeping changes on both sides of the ball that they hope will allow them to look more like the team that started 10-1 in 2023 rather than the team that collapsed over the back half of the season.

So that begs the question: is this a Super Bowl or Bust season?

The answer is sort of complex, because there are so many factors.

It’s difficult to put into words exactly how catastrophic the Eagles collapse over the course of the last seven weeks of the 2023 season was. The team looked lost on every front.

The offense had no identity. The defense looked anemic (the unit allowed the 4-12 Arizona Cardinals to walk into Lincoln Financial Field and win in come from behind fashion after they trailed 21-6 at halftime).

The organization handed over legitimate defensive coaching responsibility to former Lions head coach Matt Patricia and expected it to yield positive results. In short, it didn’t.

After the season, there was even legitimate chatter that Philadelphia could dump Sirianni for one of the hot coaching candidates (or Bill Belichick).

The franchise ultimately decided to keep Sirianni, and strip him of (virtually) most of his responsibility as head coach by hiring two coordinators who have brought in their own systems on their respective sides of the ball.

In all actuality anything less than a conference championship and he could find himself in search of a new job.

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For Jalen Hurts, the answer to this question depends on the lens through which you view last season.

Was it poor coaching, Hurts’ adjustment to a $255 million extension, Hurts’ lack of trust in his coaching or just an unlucky season?

The answer probably lies somewhere in between.

But, one thing that is clear, the Jalen Hurts we saw a year ago, cannot be the same Jalen Hurts we see in 2024.

Hurts, who’s now under the tutelage of former Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and QB coach Doug Nussmeier, figures to have learned from the negatives of last season.

“I think all of those things have made me better,” Hurts said recently. “They’ve made me reevaluate some things. They’ve allowed me to reassess. And I’ve been able to saturate myself in the right things.”

Bottom line: Hurts will be asked to progress and take a huge leap forward in his development this season. As detailed recently on The Philly Blitz, Moore will ask Hurts to do more than he’s ever been asked to do from a processing standpoint as a passer, and pre-snap (in the absence of Jason Kelce), even more will be added on to his plate.

And there’s also the underlying factor of Hurts’ relationship with Sirianni to keep an eye on, which ESPN has labeled as ‘dysfunctional’.

Hurts has shown the ability to play like one of the NFL’s five best quarterbacks. In his three seasons as the starter, the team has finished in the top 10 in offensive efficiency twice (the one year they didn’t, they were 11th). It’s clear that the ceiling is high, but can he consistently do so is the question that most have.

Does that make it a Super Bowl or bust season for him? That depends on who you ask.

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Defensively, Philadelphia is experiencing a changing of the guard of sorts.

Franchise legend, Fletcher Cox has retired. Brandon Graham is entering the last year of his career. Haason Reddick is no longer with the franchise (apparently he’s in Japan). Darius Slay is also 33 years old.

And they’ve finally secured the services of the defensive coordinator who they’ve been chasing since hiring Nick Sirianni, in Vic Fangio.

Young players will be expected to step up and take huge leaps forward.

The addition of Fangio as defensive coordinator is a significant shift, and the development young players like second-year defensive tackle Jalen Carter and third-year tackle Jordan Davis will be crucial.

Carter will be relied upon to be the engine that makes the defensive front go and for good reason. The Georgia product was widely regarded as a generational defenisve prospect two years ago when he entered the NFL draft.

Carter also has experience in a system similar to Fangio’s where the techniques he will be relied on to play under Fangio are very similar to the ones he played under Kirby Smart at Georgia.

At the other defensive tackle position, Philadelphia is also expecting big things from third-year man Jordan Davis. While he hasn’t shown much as a pass rusher (and likely never will in his career), Davis has to be more consistent than what he’s been thus far in his career.

The 340-pound mammoth will likely never be a double digit sack player in his career, as he is more of a space eater that frees up things for the players around him, but Davis has to at least be impactful as a pass rusher.

Philadelphia is also leaning on unproven commodities like linebackers Zack Baun, Nakobe Dean, and Devin White, pass rushers Bryce Huff and Nolan Smith, rookie CB Quinyon Mitchell and CB Isaiah Rodgers (who is returning to the NFL after a year-long ban for violating the NFL’s gambling policy).

It will undoubtedly take some time for the unit to get acclimated to a system as complex as Fangio’s, but considering the fact that it’s finally Fangio’s own system (and not another coach’s spin on it), there might be more positive than negative.

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Finally for Howie Roseman, while it isn’t Super Bowl or bust (let’s be honest, Roseman has the most staying power of any executive in the NFL), this season could be pivotal in his ideology in terms of roster construction.

It could represent a turning point, in that his shift in philosophy this offseason—paying actual money to a running back and drafting defensive backs early in the draft—could either reinforce his traditional strategy (building from the trenches first and foremost) or signal a new approach.

The outcome of the 2024 season will likely have lasting implications on how Roseman constructs future rosters.

Whether he doubles down on this new philosophy or returns to his established strategies will be closely watched by both fans and analysts alike.

The ripple effects of this offseason’s decisions could influence the Eagles’ roster-building approach for years to come.

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There are a ton of moving parts to consider for the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles.

There are a ton of questions. There is also a ton of reason for skepticism, just like there’s a ton of reason for optimism.

There will be passion. There will be arguments. There will be yelling. There will be joy. There will be highs and there will be lows.

But one thing is for certain: the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles season will be a rollercoaster.

In short, it’s the dawn of a new sports season in Philadelphia.

Cover Image Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports